Exploding Flames 5
by Punk19
Summary: Sibling rivalry all the way, can 2 brothers get along?
1. Chapter 1

"Ye see that thar bull?" he exclaimed.

"Yeah whut 'bout it?" Four Way Shot asked.

"Imma a-gonne ride him today!"

Four Way Shot shook his head and laughed a little inside, his two year old brother had been rambling on and on about riding the bull that his father had bought a few weeks ago for awhile. The bull in the pen was a big one, a big yellow colored bull with long and sharp horns, the bull was four years old. The bull hadn't had his horns sharpened to a blunt end yet, his father hadn't gotten around to it yet.

"Shur ye is," Four Way Shot laughed. "an' I'mma a-gonna git wings an' fly south fer the winter."

"I is," his brother exclaimed. "jus' ye wait!"

"Why don't ye go an' ride him now?" Four Way Shot suggested. "Pa ain't around."

He and his brother were standing on the fence that was around the bull, the bull had his head down and was eating some hay that his father had thrown in earlier. His brother was holding on tightly to the top board on the fence, he was only ten inches tall. His brother dressed similarly to himself, he was wearing a white shirt with tassels on the shoulder pads, a red vest with white tassels below the stitches on the bottom, blue jeans with a red patch on the right knee, a black belt held them up, the belt's buckle was a golden bull with red eyes and blue nostrils, dark brown boots with gold spurs on the heel and a grey kercheif was around his neck, his hat had a stampede string around it, his cowboy hat was red with yellow stitches around the brim.

"Whar is our pappy?" his brother asked.

"Somewhar 'round the pig pen I think." Four Way Shot said. "Ye gonna ride that bull or are ye jus' gonna stand thar an' gawk at him?"

"Imma a-gonna ride him!" his brother said loudly. "Imma a-goin' right now!"

His brother pulled himself up to the top of the fence and then jumped into the ring, his hat flew from his back over his shoulder, with a swift movement he threw it back over and started walking towards the bull. Four Way Shot didn't really understand how he and his younger brother were related. They had the same mother and father, but he and his brother looked nothing alike. His younger brother had brown-blond hair that ran past his ear, he had allowed it to grow to his shoulders one time, just recently he had taken a sharp rock and had cut off most of it, his younger brother also had two arms, like himself he wore gloves.

"Hey thar bull," his younger brother called. "I ain't a-gonna hurt ye, I's jus' gonna climb on yer back."

The bull lifted his head up and looked at his brother for the longest time before going back to eating the hay. Around his girth was a rope that was a little bit loose, it was a braided rope for training the bull. With a click of his spurs, his younger brother ran at the bull and grabbed it, the bull bayed then jumped up, with his brother hanging on with one hand, the other was up in the air, as was his hat.

"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahaaaaaaawwwwww!" his brother yelled.

Arson lifted his head up and looked towards the pen that the bull was in, what he saw made his red eyes with the yellow and orange star burst in the middle light up bright. The yellow bull was bucking high in the air and he was making the loudest sounds he had ever heard. On the side of the bull, his legs pressed up hard against the side and stomach of the bull, was his youngest half brother, Single Shot.

"Dad!" Arson roared. "Uncle Tex! Come quick!"

His father looked up from the book he was reading, when he saw the bull leap up in the air, his back arched, he threw the book to the side and rushed forward. His six armed uncle, of whom he would always call Uncle Tex, didn't have to look up to know what was happening, he dropped the rope that was in his hands and ran over quickly, they were at the fence before he was.

"Single Shot!" his uncle yelled. "Git yer lil' butt off o' mah bull this minute!"

"Nooooooo." Single Shot's voice carried to them on the wind. "I will a-not."

"Ye'll git yer behind..." his uncle started to say then stopped.

His uncle raised his boot over the top board and jumped over, Arson could tell that he was not happy. His uncle was wearing a white button up long sleeved shirt with four extra arms stitched under the first set, a brown leather vest was over it, the vest housed a set of holsters that had two Colt .45's in them. His uncle had a pair of blue jeans that were being held up by a black belt that housed four more holsters that had four more Colt .45's in them, his uncle had black boots on his feet, there were silver spurs on the heels on them, around his uncle's neck was a red kerchief, there was a black cowboy hat on his head. Looking over to the side, Arson saw that his half brother that he preferred to call just brother was hanging over the fence, he could detect him yelling out his full brother's name.

Four Way Shot and Arson had a great relationship, they were very close to each other, Arson wouldn't spend ten minutes away from his brother's side. Four Way Shot was wearing a white button up long sleeved shirt with red and green stripes, a brown leather vest over it housed a set of holsters that had two Colt .45's inside, he was wearing a pair of blue jeans that were being held up by a black belt with a silver buckle, another set of holsters hung from it, they housed two more Colt. 45's, there were brown boots on his feet with silver spurs on the heel, on his head was a brown hat, under his chin was a blue kerchief, he had black gloves on his hands, over his jeans was a pair of black and white chaps.

"Yeeeeaaaaahaaaawwwww!" he heard his younger half brother shout.

His uncle had thrown a rope around the bull which had made it jump up one final time. This time the bull twisted his body and deposited Single Shot on the ground in front of his father who had the rope in his hands held taut. Placing one of his feet on the ground, he stood up shakily on his feet and took a few shaky steps away from his father, he was almost out of the pen when his father turned around, Arson could tell by the way his uncle's shoulders pulled up them dropped that he was pissed.

"Not so fast!" his uncle said.

Single Shot didn't stand by and wait for his father to walk up to him, he stooped low and climbed out of the pen, when he was out he ran. Single Shot was fast, the fastest of all of them. His father kicked up his feet and created some dust, he was out of the pen and right behind his youngest son in a few seconds, when he grabbed Single Shot he heaved him up and encircled the three arms on his right side around him.

"I have a feeling a certain young cowboy that just rode an untrained bull is about to get the whupping of his life." Arson thought to himself.

Looking over his shoulder, Arson saw that his father was walking back to his book, usually his father would bring a book outside on cold days about fire. His father was wearing a dark grey button up long sleeve shirt and light grey pants, on his feet were black combat boots, there was a tan jacket hanging on the back of his chair. His left arm was a flamethrower and it was very powerful. Just a few weeks ago he had seen his father light a huge bonfire for Halloween, it had been outrageous! Arson had no idea that his father had had that much control and power in his flamethrower, he hoped that one day he would be able to do that.

"Arson..." Four Way Shot called.

"What?" Arson called back.

"Don't tell mah pa that I a-told mah bro to a-ride the bull." Four Way Shot said. "I a-gots enuff goin' on, I a-don't need any more spankin's."

"Will do bro."


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting at the table, a plate of steak and potatoes in front of him, Four Way Shot could hardly keep the laughs from coming out of his mouth. His little brother was standing at the fridge, he was puring himself a glass of lemonaide, every few seconds he would reach a hand back and rub his behind, whenever he did that Four Way Shot could detect a few painful moans. They're father sat between him, one of his arms was over the chairs back, he was cutting a small chunk of the steak off with his knife.

"I heard that Fancy Pants got caught riding a bull today." Slasha snickered. "I also heard he got caught by his daddy."

"I heard that he had to be pried off the door just to be brought in the house." Slash laughed.

Slash and Slasha were team mates when it came to picking on his younger brother, they had stopped picking on him when his brother had turned two, at times it made him feel sad, at others he heaved a sigh of relief. Arson was still one of their targets, but they didn't pick on him as much as they did Single Shot.

"So when you flew off the bull did you have your arms out?" Slasha asked. "Did you think you could fly?"

"Mr. Fancy probably pissed his pants!" Slash laughed loudly.

"Probably took a dump in them too!" Slasha added.

Single Shot sighed deeply and then turned around, he hated it when his older sister and brother picked on him and they knew it. His father was pushing his plate forward, he could tell that he had had a belly full. His mother was walking around the table collecting plates, almost everyone was finished eating, everyone but him. He was the skinniest of his father's children, everything stood out on him. He had a slightly clefted chin, not as noticeable as his brother's or father's, his eyes were the same color as his brother's and father's but they were softer, his brother had his father's intensity in his eyes. Looking down he frowned greatly at his arms, he had been born with two arms, not four or six. Sighing, he took his seat beside his father and picked up his fork, when his mother walked by she trailed her hand over his shoulders.

"He went peeeeewwwww," Slasha laughed. "then he shot off like a rocket and was still caught by his father."

"Stop it." Single Shot whispered.

"Should have stayed put," Slash said. "his punishment might have been a little lighter."

"I swear I still think I heard his cries all the way out near the skating wing." Slasha said.

"Stop it." Single Shot said a little louder.  
"Probably could have heard them all the way out in the fields." Slash replied.

"Madonna ran off with her tail held high in the air when he started crying." Slasha yelled. "She was like, ahhhh get me out of here."

"Stop it!"

His father placed his fork down on his plate and turned slightly towards him, he was still mad at him for riding the bull he could see. Lowering his head he shoved his fork into the piece of steak and placed it in his mouth. His mother would cut his meat for him, he couldn't do it for himself, one of his aunts did the same for her son. When he started rolling his fork around, pushing peas around on his plate, his father placed his hand on his shoulder.

"That is enuff!" his father told his older siblings.

Whenever his father said anything he and his siblings would quiet up, Slasha and Slash made a few sounds and giggled a little before they turned to their Strawberry and Oreo Cookie Cheesecake desserts. Since he had been bad he wasn't to get dessert, he was to go right to bed right after he finished eating. Looking past his father, he saw that his brother was holding his fork over a slice of Chocolate Cheesecake, when Four Way Shot saw that his brother was looking at him he blushed.

"Hey Slasha look," Slash said loudly. "Single Shot is eye-balling his brother's dessert."

"Probably jealous that he ain't getting none."

Pushing his plate forward, Single Shot didn't feel like eating. He still had half of the steak and he hadn't even started on his peas or potatoes. Pushing his chair forward, he slid from it and started for the kitchen doorway. One of the reasons why he was so skinny was because he was always the target of Slash and Slasha during mealtime. He couldn't remember a time when he had eaten everything on his plate.

Slash was sitting alongside his brother, he was wearing a black leather jacket with a white spider and snake on the back of his jacket, the body of both was white, the eyes were red. His shirt was black, the pocket on the front had a white spider on it, his pants were black with red sides, his shoes were black, the laces were red. His half brother had medium grey colored hair, it was straight in the back and spiky in the front and top, his head and face was a skull, like his father he had a clefted chin, he had spikes in his eyes. He was the calmest of his knife weilding uncle, he was also the calmest of his knife weilding uncle. He was five years old and was twelve inches tall.

Slasha was sitting across the table, her copper grey hair flowed past her shoulders and the spikes in her eyes sparkled. She was wearing a purple and red dress that was unopened at the top, her father would not allow for her to wear such outfits, on her feet were purple shoes with black laces. She was wearing a purple and black hat with a red flower on the front. Slasha was nine years old and fourteen inches tall. Like her brother, she had a white skull head and face, she had a feminine smooth chin. Slasha had an obsession with Bella Lestrange from the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. She had an annoying way of laughing like a crazed hyena, when she had been born she had had a poisonous barbed knife for a right hand, right now she was wearing the hand that had been made special, her poisonous knife was in the possession of her father, Single Shot had walked into his uncle's room and had seen it on a knife holder, underneath of it would be his own.

"Whut do ye say?" his father said, he didn't turn around.

"Kin I be escused please?" Single Shot asked. "I ain't a-hungry."

"Shru," his father said. "go to yer room an' study a lil on that thar book I gave ye earlier."

His father had given both him and his brother a few books to read, his brother was reading a book that had articles from the late eighteen hundreds to now, he was still reading a book about all of the wars that had happened, he hadn't gotten very far in it, in fact he was still on chapter three, he had gotten the book a month ago. He was sure that his brother was almost done with his book. Sighing loudly, he walked up the stairs, when he reached the door that led to his room he stopped.

"Seems like I kin't do nothin' to impress mah pappy." he said to himself sadly.

He felt that his father loved him yes, but he just didn't spend enough time around him, he was either hanging around with Four Way Shot and Arson or he would be out most of the day tending to the sheep and cows, that would take several hours. Whenever he came home he'd be very tired and would just sit on the couch. Whenever his father was on the couch his brother would bring him things like a magazine, a glass of water or lemonade or something to eat. Taking a deep breath in, he opened the door to his room and walked in.

"Knock knock," he heard. "oops already entered."

Arson and Loui had a nice relationship, they were close but not as close as Arson was to Four Way Shot. Loui was wearing a green tunic with brown cloth stitched to the bottom and collar, the sleeves on his tunic were green with gold strips, he was wearing green slacks and had gold colored boots on his feet, in his hand was a green colored hat with gold bells. Loui had auburn brown hair, it was very curly and very soft, his eyes were the same color as his father's, blue. Loui was four years old and twelve inches tall.

"Hey buddy," Loui exclaimed. "doing a little reading and studying I see."

"Mah pappy says I gots to." Single Shot replied.

"What chapter are you on?" Loui asked.

"Four." Single Shot blushed.

"Does your dad do what my dad does?" Loui asked. "Does he give you a written test at the end of the month about the whole book?"

"Not the whole book," Single Shot laughed. "jus' half."

"How many chapters are in that book?" Loui asked.

"Lots!" Single Shot sighed.

"Over twenty?" Loui asked.

"Kinda," Single Shot said, he smiled slyly. "I kind o' need to read a lil more."

"You little slacker!" Loui laughed, he was joking. "Why don't you stay up all night and read a few chapters, get to chapter seven or something like that."

"I'll a-try that." Single Shot said.

Loui walked forward and wrapped Single Shot up in a hug, he could have sworn that he had heard his younger half brother's stomach growl. When he pulled away from his half brother he reached into his tunic and pulled out a napkin. He had saved some of his Pumpkin Cheesecake from dessert, his mother had cooked it and it was delicious! Smiling brightly, he handed the napkin to Single Shot.

"It's some of the Cheesecake I had for dessert," Loui said. "I thought you'd like to have some as you wasn't allowed to have any for dessert."

"I a-was bad," Single Shot replied. "it's a rule, if yer a-bad ye kin't have dessert."

"Really you weren't bad," Loui said. "you were curious."

"Nah, I a-wanted to ride that bull," Single Shot said. "mah pappy had told both me an' mah bro that we was to not a-touch him. Ever!"

"So you disobeyed your daddy," Loui laughed. "I do it, we all do."

"I a-think ol' Arson disobeys his pappy more n' ye or me or any o' the others." Single Shot laughed.

It was true, Arson did cause more trouble in the house than was needed. He had a very bad temper, was very rude and at times disrespectful and there were at times when he would get aggressive. Looking at the napkin that his half brother was holding made his stomach growl louder, sighing loudly he reached forward and slowly took it from Loui's hand.

"Better eat it fast," Loui said. "when I came up here I heard your dad saying that he was going to come up to check on you."


	3. Chapter 3

Seeing his brother enter his parents room made him curious, his brother would at times go in to retrieve a gun or two from his father's top dresser drawer, one or the Colt .45's that both he and his father loved to use. The owl outside hooted, it was way past midnight, he and his older brother had decided to grab their weapons for target practice, it was a rule that no one was allowed to go out after nine, they had been breaking that rule for a while now.

"Alrighty," his brother whispered. "I gots mah guns, yer turn."

Single Shot slowly walked into the room, the light from the hallway drifted in through the doorway, for some reason the light would always hit his father's face, would always light his face up. His father was sleeping on his side, he could detect slight snoring, his mother, on the other hand, was sleeping on her back. It was rare for his mother to sleep on her back so he thought she was awake, dropping down on his hands and knees, he crawled towards the closet that held his bow and the arrows. With the arrows clamped between his teeth and the bag to carry them on his back, he gently slid the bow over his shoulder. When he left the closet he crawled towards the dresser that was still open. Inside of it was a gun that he liked a lot. The Remington Model 1858 Cartridge, he liked this gun better than the Colt's because you could replace the six round cylinder with a new one. Slowly and carefully he reached his hand into the dresser and pulled out the gun, it had an eight inch barrel, the full length of the gun was thirteen point twenty-five inches, it weighed just two pounds and thirteen ounces. The color of the barrel was silver, the butt and stock was brown.

"It's 'bout time!" his brother exclaimed in a whisper.

"Sorry," Single Shot sighed. "I a-was kissin' mah mammy an' pappy g'nite."

"They ain't a-gonna be kissin' ye g'nite if they a-woke up an' found ye a-carryin' all o' that." Four Way Shot said.

"Lets a-git out to the shootin' range a-fore mam an' pap a-wake up." Single Shot sighed, he was getting tired of his brother acting like he was a big shot. Ever since he could walk, ride a horse and shoot a gun he acted like he was better than him. His father had taught him how to ride a horse, whenever he had his back turned his brother would whisper to him that he wasn't doing something right. It was beginning to get to him, it was like he couldn't impress neither his brother or his father.

His brother had discovered a new way to get out of the house, a few years ago his father had torn down the flower fence that was against the house to prevent any of them from running off at night, he had heard the story several times where Four Way Shot and Arson had run off for a few weeks, he had heard that they had split and gone in different directions, to different states. Secretly he wondered what would happen if he tried that. Deep in thought, Single Shot wasn't watching where he put his feet and tripped up on a table leg.

"Do ye gots to be a-makin' all o' that rackit?" Four Way Shot growled.

"Well a-pardon me!" Single Shot growled back. "I a-didn't mean to a-walk into that thar table."

"Keep it up an' yer a-gonna wake mah pa!" his brother exclaimed.

"He's mah pappy too!"

Four Way Shot slowly and gently lifted the window in the laundry room up and allowed for him to crawl out first, when he was out he was handed the rifle. The night was cool and windy, there was a hint of rain on the wind and he could detect a slight thunder clap in the distance. Four Way Shot followed a few minutes later, when he slid out of the window he slowly closed it behind him. The lock on the window was old and the window couldn't be locked, the caretakers had no idea about the window.

"Git!" Four Way Shot whispered in his ear.

"I'mma a-goin'!" Single Shot hissed.

He had handed the rifle to his brother and his brother was pushing him from behind with it like he was in prison and had done something wrong. Deep down he felt that he loved his older brother, but it was clouded with misunderstanding, he didn't understand why his brother was always pushing, shoving and getting him in trouble. When he had been brought into the house for disciplining after he grabbed his father in a huge hug and had tried telling him that his brother had told him to ride the bull.

"Mah bro done told me to a-ride the bull." he had said.

"Now don't ye a-be puttin' blame on yer bro fer whut ye done did." his father had said.

"It's a-true," he had yelled. "mah bro had a-said that he was a-gonna sprout wings an' fly a-fore I ride him."

His father had grabbed him by the back of his shirt and had pulled him away from him then he had almost had to drag him up the stairs to his bedroom where he had spanked him. It was rare for his father to use his belt or a stick, he very rarely disciplined unless it was necessary, whenever he did he used his hands. After he had been punished his father had told him to sit on his bed and read the book that he had been given.

"Will ye a-stop pushin' me with the gun?" Single Shot exclaimed.

"Will ye a-move yer behind?" Four Way Shot shot back at him. "Yer a-goin' slower than a turd that a-comes from a snail's be-hind."

"Ye ain't a-bein' funny," Single Shot said, he was hiding a giggle.

"I ain't a-tryin' to be!" Four Way Shot exclaimed.

Once they were at the shooting range all of the banter and criticising stopped, Four Way Shot went one way and Single Shot went the other. Pulling an arrow out of the sack that was hanging over his shoulder, he put it into the bow and aligned it with the dip in the bow, he never used finger guards nor was he fond of the arm guard, he preferred shooting it the old way. His left index finger was above the arrow, his left middle and ring fingers were below. Pulling the string back, his eyes forward, he released the arrow and got a perfect shot, a bulls eye.

"Why don't ye a-try shootin' yer gun?" Four Way Shot asked. "I ain't a-seen ye shoot a gun in a long time."

"Why don't ye a-mind yer own biz'niz?" Single Shot growled. "I'll a-shoot mah gun if I a-feels up to it!"

After he had shot all six of his arrows he pulled out his gun and loaded it, he had brought two of the cartridges with him and was planning on using every single bullet. Pulling the loading lever down with one hand, he pushed the cartridge that had the six bullets in gently, when he closed the loading lever down he made sure that it wouldn't swing open on him, it had done that one time and he had nearly lost the cartridge. Lightly tapping on the gun with his pinky finger, he pointed it at one of the pots that was hanging up on a rope, when he pulled the trigger the bullet hit the pot on the side.

"Ye know," his brother sighed loudly. "yer such a disappointment to our pa it ain't a-funny."

"I ain't a-disappointin' to our pap!" Single Shot exclaimed. "He a-says I is a good shot."

"That's a-cuz he a-don't want to hurt yer feelin's." his brother yelled. "I kin see his disappointment in ye."

"He ain't a-disappointed in me," Single Shot said, looking down. "I a-know he ain't."

Going down the trail, back home, was slow for him, he was tired and he had a lot more to carry. Both he and his brother had forgotten about the rifle, neither had shot it. His brother was a few feet in front of him, half running down the trail happily. Single Shot knew his father wasn't disappointed in him, he had been very pleased when he had seen that he could hit the pots and pans and the target paper, he had been even more pleased when he had gotten a bull's eye on the first try with an arrow.

"Will ye a-keep up!" his brother called.

"I'mma a-goin' as fast as I kin." Single Shot said.

"If ye don't a-catch up to me in the next few minutes I'mma leavin' yer tail fer the coyotes." Four Way Shot yelled. "An' I ain't a-kiddin' either!"

"Ye gots longer legs n' me," Single Shot sighed. "kin ye a-slow down?"

"No!"

It was way past two when they slipped in through the window, his carrying bag had gotten caught on the window and he had had to remove it, when they went to put their weapons in their parents room they went in one at a time. Single Shot went in first, he gently placed his gun in the dresser and he carefully hung the bow and the bag that was empty on the hook. When he left the room he headed straight for his bedroom, he could have sworn that he had seen his uncle Jester's door open slightly.


End file.
